Recovery
by E. V. Roslyn
Summary: Four months after the SFIT building burned down, Hiro makes a speech to reopen the new building named in his brother's honor. When he goes to tell the news to Tadashi, he gets a surprise visit to help him mourn for his loss. *Cover Image is mine.


**A/N: Only warnings here are spoiler alerts and a very hormonal, mood swing Hiro.**

* * *

Nervousness constricted in Hiro's chest as his name was called out. Remembering his late brother's distant advice, he took a deep breath before walking forward. His aunt's hand left his shoulder she had been squeezing gently. Aunt Cass and all of his friends had their eyes on his back, but Hiro tried not to pay attention to that. He focused on who he was doing this for:

Tadashi.

Sudden pride and sorrow filled him at the thought of his brother. It had been exactly four months since the fire and one month since Hiro's fifteenth birthday.

An eternity seemed to pass before Hiro found himself on the stage outside of the newly reconstructed building. He took the microphone with a slightly shaking hand and faced the large crowd.

"H-Hi..." Hiro began weakly. To keep his focus, he kept his eyes on his friends and aunt, all of whom were smiling back at him with glazed eyes. "M-my name is Hiro Hamada," he took another breath, "and Tadashi Hamada was my big brother. Four months ago, a horrible fire right at this school took his life."

Without knowing this, Hiro clutched the microphone tighter with both hands. They were already feeling sweaty.

"...He was a great brother and friend," he continued, gaining a little more confidence. "All he ever wanted in life was to do good in the world. He was brave... intelligent... wise... caring. He would always look out for others. And he was a great brother to me."

In a moment of grief, Hiro took off his brother's navy blue baseball cap, momentarily glancing at the lettering and tracing it with his thumb, "Today," he smiled back at the audience, all nervousness gone, "we are here to reopen the burned down building of the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. I am proud to tell you that it has been renamed in my brother's honor."

The red drapes behind him were dropped to reveal the new lettering.

"The Tadashi Hamada Building!"

The crowd clapped and cheered with enthusiasm. Hiro's smile widened as he gazed at the building. If only Tadashi was here to see this now...

The rest of the ceremony went by quickly for Hiro. His friends and aunt congratulated him on his speech and for pulling through to attend it today. For the past four months, Hiro's life had changed drastically, and being a fifteen-year-old college student and the leader of an actual superhero team was a lot of weight to carry for him.

Once the tour was over and the crowd began to dissipate, Hiro decided to leave. GoGo, Wasabi, and Aunt Cass all offered him rides home, but he turned them down politely, saying he would rather walk. They understood, and they left Hiro alone with a final hug and a promise to bring him snacks once he returned to the café.

Hiro knew his way around the city well enough to not get lost. The distance to home from the school was a couple miles apart, but it wasn't that late yet. It was only two in the afternoon, but the clouds were slowly positioning themselves to block the sky and threaten tonight's forecast of rain. Today Hiro chose not to wear his blue jacket and was glad he didn't. It was just early autumn, but temperatures have reached up to the eighties today. The cloud coverage was helping, making today the coldest day in San Fransokyo for all the past week.

He whipped out his phone from his cargo pants pocket and sent a quick text to Aunt Cass, telling her that he'll be making a couple stops before going home. Soon after he hit 'send', his phone vibrated and received a reply from her, which was nothing more than a simple 'Ok. Be back before dinner'. After today's events, she didn't have to ask to know where he was going. Hiro put his phone back in his pocket and entered the flower shop.

He approached the counter, "Do you have any lilies left?" he asked. Tadashi died around Easter, but while the Hamada family usually didn't follow religious traditions, they participated in holidays like Easter and Christmas. And Tadashi always told Hiro he enjoyed seeing the beautiful, white lilies at churches on Easter Sundays.

The man at the counter looked behind him at the greenhouse, "I believe we have enough left for a bouquet."

"Perfect," Hiro smiled. As the man got the flowers together, he pulled out his wallet, knowing exactly how much to pay. The florist returned with fewer flowers than expected.

"I apologize, but there are only five lilies left. I would recommend some petunias or roses to add to the bouquet, depending on the occasion."

Hiro smiled and placed his money on the counter- far too much money for five flowers, "Thank you, but I just want the lilies. You can keep the change."

After exiting the flower shop, he walked to his next destination. He had taken this path a number of times before since the funeral. The San Fransokyo Cemetery was fairly large, but the grave he was looking for was closer to the entrance of the cemetery. Hiro remembers visiting here many times before with Tadashi to visit their parents' grave. They would visit three times a year: On their mother's birthday, on their father's birthday, and on the day they died. Tadashi was ten when they were killed in that car accident, but Hiro was only three years old. He never knew his parents and hardly had any memories of them. He only had the photographs they keep around the house and whatever stories Tadashi and Aunt Cass shared about them.

This may sound selfish, but Hiro almost never thought of his real parents. All his life he had looked up to Tadashi and his aunt as his guardians. Aunt Cass raised them and provided for their education, but Tadashi protected him. Guided him. Almost like a father. Aunt Cass was always telling them Tadashi took after their dad, while Hiro took after their mom.

Hiro's vision was already getting blurred by unshed tears as clear memories of Tadashi's funeral went through his mind. It was dark and raining that day, and many of Tadashi's friends were there along with Hiro and his aunt. Everyone in attendance gathered around the flat tombstone in silence. The only noise was the sound of rain pounding on their black umbrellas.

He was brought back to the present when he noticed an older-looking man crouching at one of the graves. The man was too far away to make out, but he was a good distance from Tadashi's grave, so he didn't bother him. Hiro wasn't the only one in this city with lost loved ones after all... He traced his fingers on the marble lettering that spelled out his brother's name and birth and death dates. With his other hand, Hiro gently laid down the flowers and gave a soft smile.

"Hey, bro. Long time no see, huh?" He paused, as if waiting for Tadashi to respond. "Not much happened since I last visited you. Well, a couple weeks ago we found out Mochi wasn't a boy," he laughed. "I guess that explains why she was getting so fat. Baymax helped us deliver the kittens. There are five of them, all perfectly healthy, and I named one of them Dashi," he chuckled to himself a bit more, before taking out his phone and showing the pictures to the grave. "See? Dashi looks a little like you, doesn't he? And here's another picture of Mochi feeding them. Well, we're thinking about renaming her Mochina. The other kittens are Buttercup, Mochi Jr., Max, and Orenji."

He put his phone away before continuing, "Today was also the ceremony. You should have seen it. They renamed the building after you: The Tadashi Hamada Building! Aunt Cass said I did pretty well on the speech. I was pretty much just gloating on how incredible you are and stuff..." Hiro felt his heart suddenly gain ten pounds and his eyes watered again. "Why did you have to run in there, you stupid knucklehead?"

A sob broke through and Hiro hid his face in his arms and knees, finally shedding his tears, "I miss you. So much." He allowed himself to cry and blamed it on his mood swings. He wasn't sure how long he sat there, but he didn't move when he heard someone approaching him.

"Hiro Hamada?"

Hiro looked up, and, to his shock, he found Professor Callaghan standing in front of him. He quickly pulled himself up and took a few steps away from the criminal.

"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in jail!"

Callaghan nodded, "I am," he stretched down and lifted his khaki pant leg to reveal a bulky, metal device wrapped around his ankle. A red light on it continuously blinked on and off, "but I've been allowed days where I can see my family. Today is my wife's birthday."

Hiro looked in the direction where he saw the older man at a grave and immediately made the connection, "Oh, I, uh... I'm sorry about your loss."

"Oh, she passed away years ago. Abigail was only seven when it happened, and Sharon had been battling breast cancer for a year."

"Wow. That must have been difficult for you," Hiro didn't know what else to say to that.

Callaghan allowed himself to smile as he looked behind him back at that grave, "She put up quite a fight. Always so strong. And she was still always there for Abigail and me. We were so confident that she was going to get better. Sharon had made a promise to our daughter that after the cancer was gone, we would all go camping together."

Hiro glanced back at Tadashi's grave. A small spark of anger still burned in him, but he knew it wasn't right to waste his anger on Callaghan. As much as the former professor deserved it, he knew he was already suffering enough.

"We almost never went camping," Hiro said, mostly to himself. "Tadashi was always wanting to go, but Aunt Cass hated camping, and when I was younger, you couldn't get me away from technology for five minutes. We did go camping once a couple years ago, right after I graduated high school. It was a lot more fun than we thought, and we all enjoyed ourselves. We were planning on going again after... after Tadashi graduated college..."

Callaghan's face fell in remorse and glanced down between Hiro and the grave that bore his former student's name, "I did this..." he muttered. Hiro looked up at him, a little surprised, but Callaghan continued. "This is all my fault. I never meant for anyone to get hurt. I just wanted my daughter back."

Hiro thought of everything he wanted to say to him, like how Callaghan was the one who started the fire, and how he nearly killed Hiro and his friends. And like how Callaghan wanted to extract revenge on Alistair Krei and fully intended to kill him. His actions were careless and irresponsible, leaving an innocent young man dead and leaving a fourteen-year-old boy without his older brother.

He surprised himself that when he did speak, he didn't express any of those thoughts, "I tried to kill you," Hiro reminded him. "If Honey hadn't deactivated the attack mode on Baymax... I would have gone too far. Revenge on you isn't what Tadashi would have wanted, and revenge on Krei isn't what Abigail wanted."

Callaghan calmly nodded, "I've learned that you were right. When she found out what I had done, she was very disappointed in me. Abigail forgave me, but this whole ordeal strained our relationship... I never got the chance to thank you, Hiro," he smiled at him. "You brought my daughter back when you didn't have to. I only wish I have the chance return the favor. You are so much more like your brother than you think, and every time I see you, the similarities only grow."

"I- Thank you," Hiro didn't expect to hear anything like that from Callaghan, especially now, but he was flattered by the comment.

Both turned back to look at Tadashi's grave in brief silence before the former professor spoke again, "I see you have chosen to give your brother lilies. They're very beautiful. The lily symbolizes humility and devotion, which I personally believe suits Tadashi very well. All those long hours when he was practically living in the lab were spent working on his project. Some nights when he made a breakthrough, he doesn't sleep at all. You could tell right away just how dedicated he was to his work. I have never before seen a student with such... passion and love and talent for robotics. And his devotion wasn't just limited to his work either.

"For most of his freshman year at SFIT, I didn't even know about you or your aunt. It wasn't until he told me his inspiration for Baymax that I knew he had a younger brother just as intelligent as he was. I heard so much more stories about you from him, and I could tell from his stories how much your brother cared about you. He had his friends too; he was always popular in school and very well liked. Sometimes I wonder how a young man like Tadashi can pull that all off."

"Yeah..." Hiro turned to Callaghan. "Why are you talking to me?"

He turned to the teenager and sighed, "I honestly don't know, Hiro. Maybe it's the guilt that's been eating me away these past few months, or maybe this is probably my only chance for closure between us. To part on neutral terms... Maybe I'm just here to apologize for all the pain that I have inflicted on you and your friends and aunt. And for that, I am terribly sorry."

Another moment passed before Hiro spoke again, "...Did you ever see him? In the building?"

Callaghan hesitated, "Are you sure you want to know that, Hiro?" Hiro nodded and he sighed, "I'll never forget that moment. I thought that everyone was out of the building. I never expected Tadashi to run back inside, let alone for me. The place was covered in smoke and flames, and I had just grabbed your neurotransmitter when I saw him. He was coughing through the smoke and calling my name. When he found me, he told me to get out of the building. I'm not sure if he even saw your technology in my hand. I tried to tell him to run, but then an explosion caused a large metal beam to fall on him. He died immediately... I won't share the graphic details with you, but it was too late to save him..."

Hiro paused at this new information, "Thank you."

"For what?" Callaghan asked, confused.

"For telling me. At least now I know he didn't suffer," he answered.

A loud honk caused them both to turn to the entrance, where a red minivan was waiting.

"That would be my daughter," he smiled and checked his watch. "I have three hours left before I have to go back to prison."

"Well, then... goodbye, I guess, Callaghan."

The older man smiled and placed a warm hand on the teenager's shoulder, "And goodbye to you, Hiro." Callaghan crouched down at the grave in front of him and placed his hand on the marble, "Goodbye, Tadashi. I know I don't deserve it, but please forgive me. And keep an eye on your brother," he chuckled through forming tears. "The world needs him."

Callaghan turned to leave when Hiro called out, "Hey, Professor?" He turned his head back at the teen. "I forgive you. And Tadashi would have forgiven you too."

The former professor smiled warmly. A tear fell down his aging cheeks, "Thank you, Hiro. That means more to me than you will ever know."

Hiro smiled as he watched Callaghan walk down the grove and to the car. He got into the front passenger seat and Abigail drove away. It was getting late and his aunt and friends were expecting him back home. He said a final goodbye to Tadashi before leaving. And for some odd reason, despite everything that happened today, and despite everything else he could be thinking about, his mind drifted off to Mochi's kittens. They would have to give the kittens away, but maybe Hiro can convince Aunt Cass to keep Dashi.

He walked up to the Lucky Cat Café and inhaled the scent of coffee and pastries. The smell brought back memories of him and Tadashi cleaning up after the café was closed. Hiro wasn't sure if he would ever fully move on from Tadashi's death, but his surprise visit and closure with Callaghan was a big step in the right direction.

His friends welcomed him when he walked in. Baymax had already been activated and was standing in the back of the room with Mochi and her small kitten army. Honey took random selfies while they ate. GoGo and Wasabi betted to see if Fred could eat a whole pizza in one bite, and after GoGo won that bet, Aunt Cass shared stories of Hiro and Tadashi when they were younger. Hiro laughed at some of the stories, but blushed madly at some of the more embarrassing ones while everyone else laughed.

Tadashi may have been his past, but this is his future now. He was in college, he had the best friends in the world, and he had a bright future ahead of him. But in the bottom of his heart, he knew it was all thanks to his brother, and without him, none of this would be possible.

So he was going to make the most out of it.


End file.
